The quality of the opportunity largely outweighed the consequences if I were to fail. 397 appearances and 61 goals in a career ended at the age of 29 through injury. As a lifelong Leeds fan, 11 years playing for them was every dream I'd ever had come true.
I signed up on schoolboy terms at the age of 16 in 1991. Three years in the youth setup later, I made my debut. I saw the dizzy heights of the Champions League in 2001 and the excruciating blow of relegation in 2004. A year later, my ankle shattered under a strong (but fair) tackle from Ipswich Town's Jim Magilton.
11 years and a UEFA Pro Licence later- having coached at some fine clubs from Everton to Benfica- I found myself stepping into my first role in management at- as fate would have it- Leeds United. I sat in Bremner's Bar in the South Stand waiting for Massimo Cellino to emerge, conversing with the barman, telling him my thoughts and feelings about returning to a club I have such a strong affection for, putting my reputation on the line working for one of English football's most controversial owners.
We had already discussed the vision for the club, that I'm expected to achieve a respectable league position whilst developing young players using the club's academy. Today was all about the formalities and the photo shoot.
Images of me holding a Leeds scarf above my head with the Kop in the background would soon emerge all over social media and there would soon be a divide between those who wanted an experienced manager, and those who are glad to have a local lad and cult hero at the helm.
With the influx of players over the summer, my first goal would be to get the team to gel. The new players are definitely of adequate quality, with the likes of Kyle Bartley, Rob Green, Pablo Hernandez and Eunan O'Kane arriving to strengthen the team, but there are a few more additions I hope to be able to bring in.
My sleeve rolling starts tomorrow morning...
Great update man, looking forward to this.
My first day at the office told me everything I need to know. Cellino is a tight-fisted bastard, Charlie Taylor wants to leave and we need new recruits.
The more perceptive reader would therefore think that Taylor is getting sold. And you would be absolutely correct. There's £7m in the club's balance, £100,000 in the transfer budget and not a chance in hell Massimo Cellino will give me more money to improve the side (because why invest £7m of spare cash in developing your business, right?).
I sat him down in my office as soon as I arrived and had one of the most difficult conversations of my career. After all, the club prides itself on youth development, and with Sam Byram having been sold to West Ham and Lewis Cook being sold to Bournemouth in the past 7 months alone, I really didn't want to lose Taylor.
So inevitably, my first question to him was "Will you give this club one more chance to convince you to stay?" Equally inevitable was the response. "No" with a capital 'N'.
I couldn't begrudge him the chance to develop his career. He's given the club a lot since he first started playing regular football and it was unfair to keep him down with us. Besides, the players developed by the club have never really enjoyed much of their success at Elland Road.
On the contrary, Leeds United's youth prospects have bankrolled the club for years, propping it up against mountains of debt and funding transfers of many key players over the years. Between them, Cook and Byram have made the club around £9m in transfer fees alone, before you factor in shirts sold with their names on, money made from signing events and the season ticket holders and regular ticket sales they've attracted with the way they lit up the club's style of play.
Those extra sources of income obviously didn't come solely from Cook and Byram. They came from the Fabian Delphs, the Jonny Howsons, the James Milners and the Alan Smiths- to name but a few- that all came from the academy, excited the paying customers (the fans) for a few years before making the club a reasonable amount in transfer fees.
I digress. This situation I now faced with Charlie Taylor was to be no different. He wanted to go, we needed money (or to be precise, the transfer budget needed financing, as the club's coffers were just fine).
And so it was that Charlie Taylor was transfer listed, and within a few hours I received a phone call from Walter Mazzarri of Watford. I haggled him up to a price I deemed acceptable. For the services of the third to leave of the fantastic four (Byram, Cook, Taylor, Mowatt), Watford would pay £4.5m up front with an extra £1m in monthly instalments spread over two years. In addition, we would receive 30% of his next transfer fee.
Having put a further £5m into the club's coffers, I was rewarded with £3m to spend as I saw fit. Should we never find anyone affordable to replace Taylor, Tyler Denton- another academy product, noticing a pattern here?- would provide adequate cover, and definitely has the potential to develop into yet another quality left-back.
My first morning as manager of Leeds had been a hectic one, and with further HR issues to sort out, my ground work was far from over.
Think you're definitely the man to bring stability back to this club!
My second HR task of the day was to find an addition to the coaching team. The staff I inherited are perfectly capable at their jobs, but were largely overstretched.
My PA, Erin Herkins, was called into my office once I was finished talking to Charlie Taylor. I asked for her to ring around the agencies for lists of available coaching staff. I needed an all-rounder, someone who was useful in most areas of coaching so that if nothing else, they could provide an extra pair of hands.
In order to find myself an all-rounder, I needed a well qualified coach, so the lists I asked for were to specifically contain coaches with UEFA Pro Licences (or other continental equivalents). As I went through each coach, phoning around for references, looking through available footage of their coaching sessions and hearing what their course assessors had to say, I found myself a perfect match.
I found 56-year-old Phil Cannon. Up to this point, Phil had only ever been the manager of youth teams, but everywhere I turned he was loudly lauded by everyone he'd ever worked with. He started his career at Everton in 2000, so even Wayne Rooney (friend of a friend, Alan Smith being that friend) was singing his praises to me.
Without much further ado, I was straight on the phone. "Hi, is this Phil Cannon?"
"It is, who's speaking?" he replied.
"It's Josh Townend, I've recently taken charge of Leeds United. I've assessed my coaching team, and strong though it may be, we could do with an extra coach to help us out. I've ideally been looking for someone who's adept at all areas of coaching, and you've been strongly recommended by everyone I've spoken to. Would a senior coaching role at this club be something you're interested in?"
"Absolutely" he sounded excited. "What sort of offer can you make me?"
I responded with "£1,900 per week before tax, risible by 30% should we achieve promotion during your time here"
"It sounds like a fantastic offer. I'll run it by my family and I'll be with you as soon as I can"
This was as good a piece of news as the generous offer we received from Watford for Charlie Taylor, and Cannon would make a vital addition to the coaching team.
Having being made aware that my scouts were away on scouting missions when I arrived, I was happy to let them get on with it and browse through the results at my leisure.
Right now, signing players wasn't a particularly pressing issue, as I had a backup left-back in Tyler Denton and a good month or so to find a regular first choice whilst Denton takes some more time to develop.
It was noon by the time my most pressing HR issues were addressed. Now, it was time to meet the players and, with the help of assistant manager Pep Clotet, construct three tactics for the players to learn, based around the abilities of the players we have.
Seems like a good appointment, presuming his family approves! Things are shaping up well!
